Cloning is a form of plant propagation that has been around for a very long time. It's basically taking a growing portion of a plant—a stem with some leaves attached, and helping it to become a brand new plant that is genetically identical to the plant from which the clone was taken. This is often easy to do because plants often clone themselves in nature. It's called asexual reproduction. The methods currently used today include taking cuttings, layering, division, grafting, budding, and tissue culture. Gardeners often trade cuttings and divisions as a way of sharing plants with their friends.
Experiments show that by starting the feeding immediately after the first roots emerge, immunization and seedling strength are increased and young plants experience minimal shock. In addition, experiments show that providing the growing chamber with a mixture of oxygen and solution under slight pressure, and at any selected temperature assists in proper growth of the cloned plants. By misting roots and cuttings, instead of spraying or irrigating, the water is broken down to a nearly molecular level, thereby carrying more oxygen with the solution to the cutting and making absorption easier and minimizing the risk of mold or rotting.
Despite the number of home and commercial growers available, there is still a need for an apparatus for use by the home owner or small commercial concern which is fully automatic until harvest with no human touch. In addition, the prior art teaches that water with some air circulation provides the best combination for cloning. However, new research indicates that maximizing the air with a minimum amount of water makes for better clones with minimal risk of contamination by molds and the like. Further, some commercial units employ misting systems which generally involve forcing water through small pores. However, such misting systems do not mix air with the water but use water pressure to create mist via a nozzle system which does not introduce clean air from outside the growing compartment. This air that is trapped within the growing compartment can be contaminated with bacteria and recirculation increases the chances of contamination. Thus, there is a need to provide a cloning system which does not employ irrigating or misting with pores systems. Furthermore, there is a need for a cloning system which can allow for control and monitoring of humidity levels, water temperature, water levels, and acidity levels which further contributes to the stabilization of the cloning process. This present invention meets those needs.